Dan Telvock

Investigative Post Reporter

Dan Telvock covers the environment for Investigative Post.

Telvock was an award winning reporter in Virginia for 13 years before joining Investigative Post in September.

He covered government, politics and public safety during his six-year tenure at two daily newspapers, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The Winchester Star. His coverage of a failed response to a fatal house fire was selected the best investigative story in its class in 2011 by the Virginia Press Association.

Telvock also worked for two weeklies, including Leesburg Today, the largest weekly in the state. His reporting on the misuse of a government-issued credit card ultimately sent one administrator to prison, and was honored as the best investigative story in 2003. His reporting on Virginia’s broken indigent defense system won the top award again in 2004 by the Virginia Press Association.

While working as a newspaper reporter, he also founded and operated The Landry Hat, a blog that covered the Dallas Cowboys, from 2005 to 2008.

Most recently, Telvock worked as a reporter and editor in Northern Virginia for Patch, a hyperlocal online news service operated by AOL.

Telvock was born and raised in the Finger Lakes Region. He graduated from Fredonia University in 1998 with a bachelors degree in communications. He previously earned an associates degree in television and radio broadcasting from Cayuga Community College.

Upon graduation he worked as a radio news anchor in Colorado and Virginia.

The extent of Buffalo’s childhood lead poisoning epidemic may be worse than documented by government agencies. Many children may not be getting tested for lead in their blood in a city that has been described as “ground zero” for the lead poisoning across upstate New York.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s plan to combat lead poisoning is off to a slow start. As Investigative Post environmental reporter Dan Telvock found, the pace of execution for the mayor’s plan is slower than many residents expect.

Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County is badly polluted, so much so that the state health department doesn’t want people to eat the fish. But the toxic hotspot hasn’t stopped the state Department of Environmental Conservation and local governments from promoting the creek as a fishing destination.

Residents of the Delavan-Grider neighborhood are fed up with the stalled cleanup of the former General Motors plant on East Delavan Avenue. Underground the plant are toxic chemicals that may be impacting the neighborhood and the already badly-polluted Scajaquada Creek. Neighbors want the state to end its tug of war with the property’s owner and fix the problem.

Greenleaf Development has a less-than-stellar reputation as a landlord. But that didn’t stop SUNY Buffalo State from entering into an exclusive agreement that helped the company build off-campus housing to accommodate students. The deal prohibits seniors from living in the college's dorms in an effort to fill Greenleaf’s development. One good government advocate says the deal raises red flags.

Neighborhoods on the city’s East and Lower West Sides are “ground zero” for the worst lead poisoning problems in all of Upstate New York. Lead paint is considered the culprit, but the crisis in Flint, Michigan, has raised questions about the safety of the drinking water in cities like Buffalo.

Authorities steered swimmers away from a Southtowns beach more than 30 days last summer year because of unhealthy levels of bacteria in the water. But adjacent beaches owned by two popular waterfront bars remained open to patrons because the businesses lack permits that require testing of the water and closure when fecal matter and other bacteria are detected at dangerous levels.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer on Wednesday called on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to “move into a higher gear” and conduct a comprehensive assessment of radioactive hotspots in Niagara County and Grand Island.

A little over a year ago, the City of Niagara Falls got serious about its curbside recycling program that, for years, was among the worst in Western New York. Although the city hasn’t quite reached the national average, it has improved enough to outpace the City of Buffalo. Investigative Post reporter Dan Telvock reviewed the two programs and found that sometimes, one clever idea and a simple change in the law can make a big difference.